Dancers, actors and singers sought for Ragtime musical

May 17, 2012From staff reports

The Ohio Valley Summer Theater is seeking dancers, actors and singers for its production of the musical Ragtime.

Auditions are 6-10 p.m. Friday, May 18, in Glidden Hall 480 on the Ohio University Athens campus. Callbacks are Saturday, May 19, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The musical will be performed July 12-15, 19-22, 26-29 in the Elizabeth Baker Theater in Kantner Hall on the Ohio University Athens campus.

Auditioners should be prepared to sing 16 bars of a song (Ballad) from a Broadway musical and an accompanist will be provided.

Ragtime is a powerful portrait of history's timeless contradictions of wealth and poverty, freedom and prejudice, hope and despair, and what it means to live in America. The musical intertwines the stories of three extraordinary families, one upper middle-class white, one socialist immigrant Jewish and one Harlem Black family. The show will be performed by an expansive, multicultural, intergenerational cast.

It draws upon many musical styles from the ragtime rhythms of Harlem and Tin Pan Alley to the klezmer of the Lower East Side, from bold brass band marches to delicate waltzes. The new music of the era, ragtime, permeates the score as a metaphor for a changing world.